Two penalties by Lucas Moura and a clever chip by Ezequiel Lavezzi helped champions Paris Saint Germain beat Bordeaux 3-0 in Ligue 1 on Saturday and put pressure on leaders Marseille.
Resurgent Marseille have 25 points ahead of their game at Lyon, while PSG are second with 21, having played a game more.
In later matches, eight-times former champions Nantes climbed to third on 19 points after their 1-1 home draw with Reims. And last season’s runners-up Monaco beat Bastia 3-1 away to climb to sixth on 17 points despite a long injury list.
Photo: AFP
Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol had promised to take the game to the champions and his outfit went into the game level on points with the Parisians.
However, with Brazilian international centre-back pair Thiago Silva and David Luiz holding firm, Paris always looked superior in that part of the pitch.
With Edinson Cavani suspended and Zlatan Ibrahimovic injured, PSG coach Laurent Blanc started with a makeshift front three of Javier Pastore, Lucas and speedy youngster Jean-Christophe Bahebeck.
Bordeaux had reason for cheer on 27 minutes when Gregory van Der Wiel delivered a wild studs-up kick to Wahbi Khazri’s heel with the ball gone and the referee right behind him. He was sent off, but the numerical advantage would last a mere 10 minutes.
Andre Poko’s complete miss as he swung at a stray ball would have been comical if the Bordeaux midfielder had not ended up connecting with Marco Verratti’s knee, and while he was unfortunate, he had to walk too.
Sagnol was furious with the red-card decision against Poko.
“If that was a red card then maybe [instead of playing football] we should dance or do figure skating. The referee had the red card out before Veratti even hit the deck,” he said.
Blanc agreed with Sagnol, saying neither foul had been worth a straight red.
“The sending-off motivated the team, but I’d have liked to see 11 against 11. There is such a thing as a yellow card, and both players who were fouled were able to play on. This is a contact sport,” he said.
With Bordeaux deflated, PSG went on the offensive. From the ensuing free-kick, Luiz was already turning to celebrate a goal, but saw his thunderous shot come back off the post with the wall and ‘keeper well beaten.
PSG then spurned a series of chances before Verratti was brought down in the area as the pressure mounted.
With Ibrahimovic and Cavani absent, penalty duty fell to Lucas, who stepped up in his pink boots and sent Stephane Carrasso the wrong way, his spot-kick ripping into the opposite corner.
Five minutes into the second half, Lucas himself was brought down as he beat the offside trap and PSG were awarded another penalty.
The Brazilian coolly planted his second spot-kick in the other corner, Carrasso unable to deal with the venom of the shot.
Lavezzi, who was returning after being out injured for a month, completed the scoring nine minutes from time when his close-range chip took a deflection off defender Maxime Poundje on its way into the net.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
RSS